mpeltier

.............now the Dinosaurs are doing the shooting.

Alrightythen.....Ill try to contribute something usefull. Ive had good luck dealing with hot hand guards with Silver Ceramic header paint from the auto parts store. You remove the hand guard and tape the outside completely. Spray or brush (I find brushing best) several coats on the inside of the hand guard then re install it. I do it to all the hand guards I install and it makes a noticeable difference. Tip: Spray the can into a appropriately sized disposable paint cup until you have a suitable amount to dip your brush in. Then dip your brush and paint away.....any extra that seeps onto the outside can easily be removed with lacquer thinner after you un-tape it.

My first thought is ammo. mags and springs could be too. what ammo are you using?

Remove the bolt from the bolt carrier and clean any carbon out of the area where the bolt rings ride. Look inside this area with a flashlight and see if its really smooth or rough. Let me know what you find.

I wish i had better news for you but all four of the ones ive owned would not do better than 4" at 15 yrds either. No matter what ammo. My 5" pro was the worst at 6" groups at 15yds. Even a kkm bbl only made it a little better. I still own one of them but went to an XDM 5.25 for my competition pistol. Much better accuracy. I really like the m&p, but the poor accuracy (by my standards) is unacceptable to me.

Good info here, thanks for sharing. Don't you want more accuracy so the variation isn't as wide? If you keep it in the same room, almost same temperature, control any air currents, shouldn't you get more accurate and consistent readings? Are you reloading and measuring each and every charge by hand or are you just verifying charge weights from a powder drop mechanism on a machine? Me?? Heck no, I weigh at the beginning of a session, one more around 100 rounds and that's it. I might do one more check at the end of a session. I am just looking for a digital scale that is accurate and consistent. I have had three digitals and granted they weren't very expensive but they were horrible. The OP is looking for the something a little more precise and that can withstand the temperature changes. I understand. I guess my point is (with scales of extreme accuracy) our powder drop system is the weakest link in the measurement of the powder we put in our reloads. We are verifying the amount for safety sake. The scale is simply telling us if the amount is still in the safe zone if you will. the small deviation in 100'ths of a grain is insignificant to safety and/or down range accuracy of our reloads. Theres a plethora of other details more important to down range accuracy than attempting to get the powder measurement any more accurately than your average scale will provide. Its tantamount to a cat chasing its tail.

What caliber is this and which shell plate are you using?

Good info here, thanks for sharing. Don't you want more accuracy so the variation isn't as wide? If you keep it in the same room, almost same temperature, control any air currents, shouldn't you get more accurate and consistent readings? Are you reloading and measuring each and every charge by hand or are you just verifying charge weights from a powder drop mechanism on a machine?

That depends on your interpritation or definition of what Match Brass happens to be related to the game. Ive been using LC once fired brass as my base for match ammo for years of 3-gun competition. It has given me sub MOA accuracy and superb reliability, results downrange rivaling some of the best "Match" ammo I've found commercially. Lapua would be a huge waist of money for my match ammo. Now, if I were shooting 1000 yard high power events, perhaps my needs would warrant the Lapua brass. I would first inspect that brass for other defects. I would also case gauge some of them before resizing to get a feel for how much stretching might have occurred. If they fit the case gauge pretty well or perfectly, I would use them with out worry.

Im glad you said that. Its exactly what I was thinking. Big waist of time and money. IMHO, But with over 40 years of reloading experience what do I know............?

In my opinion having to pry on the left side safety is NOT good. A safety is a hand fit proposition in most cases and not a drop in fit. If you need yours replaced have springfield or a local trusted gunsmith do it. It sounds like its out of the scope of your knowledge base to do yourself. The only time prying would be called for would be removing the right side safety as the press fit of the two halves of the ambi safety some times is stubborn. the tip of a small jewelers screwdriver under the safety (in a location you wouldn't see a scratch if you slip) would be easiest. The left side should always be removed without forcing it by wiggling it and pulling on it at about the 1/2 way point of engagement. NEVER force the primary safety lever to remove or install it. If its giving you trouble, Stop and try again, but don't force it.

You don't need a magnifier, that would be slower in my opinion. You just need to slow down just a touch on the tight shots to guarantee a hit. A slightly slower hit will always be faster than a fast miss at the end of the run. I would assume if you thought about it you would feel rushed on those shots, this would indicate your forcing the shot an instant too soon. Back off your speed a touch to find a good cadence or rhythm that feels confident your shot will result in a hit. A good thing to do in practice if your able to, is do a run at a comfortable cadence (record these times) then do a few runs faster than your ability (but safely) not making up any shots, Focus on the front sight and be aware of your slide moving and target transitions etc just accepting your misses. No need to record these times. Then do a few at a comfortable cadence again. As your mind and vision accept what fast looks like your times in the comfort zone will get better.

In the picture you posted of the loaded bullet and the blown case the mouth of the loaded case has a shiny ring around it and doesn't look very even (may be a photo anomaly). Do you have a bullet puller? Id be curious to see what a pulled bullet looks like after seeing that picture.

If this is a brand new gun/build, the gas block may not be completely drilled thru. Ive had that issue on several occasions. Give us some details of the rifle in question. Age, gas system specs etc.?

All good advice. To get the best value out of anything you practice at home you first need to have a plan. Get or make a notebook (range diary?) and ask some of the better competitors on your squad to critique your run on each stage. Ask them not just what you could improve on but also what your doing right. Self critique is just as important. Its the most efficient way to make a plan of what to spend time on. The things to work on at home now are the safe gun handling skills, and the basic fundamentals of marksmanship. After critiquing a few matches you can build a plan to develop more advanced skills, and mindset. Do not do anything to try to go faster. As your fundamentals improve, your skill set builds and your mindset develops, the speed will come automatically.

Its definitely shoulder setback. Ive used the Dillon .223 case guage for years with at least a dozen different barrels. Never an issue with rounds that gauges properly in that gauge. Ironically I had acquired that gauge due to having the issue with some factory Black hills that was sticking in the chambers of several rifles. Several rounds from every box stuck out to far when gauged and would not work reliably in the rifles. To their credit they replaced the case of ammo and all was good. It showed me that case gauging even factory ammo is worth it as well as for your reloads.

Steve RA has been giving you good advice. Your shooting a real fast game and using two different reticles. Your asking your brain to go back and forth between the two. Get the same dot reticle on your rifle and things will get better.

Sheepdogs on the right track. I believe its from the striker bottoming out, if you will, in the striker channel after release. In the four I've owned it did it until you put a snap cap in and pull the trigger. No movement then.

Are you using lead 9mm bullets in your reloads as well?Were your 9mm and .45's both XDM's?

For your local matches and other intended uses, I would think daytime illumination would be of more importance than a BDC with marginal or non-existent daytime illumination. I believe you would be better served with the VX-6 with their circle dot firedot reticle, and have the free CDS dial calibrated to your pet load and see how it works for you. The Circlre dot reticle is really bright and crisp with out clutter and has a very fine point for precision shooting. As far as the VX-6 being as tough as the knightforce, I think you'd have a hard time breaking it. Have you seen the video by Leupold, sledge hammering one out of a block of Ice then mounting it up and its still shooting straight? pretty impressive. Oh yeah, and if you feel you gotta have the CMR2 reticle you can do it later.

The low ride safety is what she needs, if you want her to continue with the thumb over safety grip. Ive only found it available one sided, no ambi. Another alternative is a much smaller ambi safety and use the strong hand to deactivate it and continue the motion down under the safety. A very small tab won't usually activate under recoil. I have a 1911 set up that way and it has never activated under recoil. You could even take a file to the one you have if your mechanically inclined. The original design wasn't much more than a big bump, and it worked pretty good. A set of Thin grips may help as well if you don't already have them.

when you say "compromising her grip", do you mean just not a complete proper grip or is she failing to activate the grip safety? Or both?

Your assuming it actually fired out of battery. I don't believe its possible. Ive looked at how the timing of events happens with my XDM 5.25 and the barrel and slide are locked together well before the striker could release and hit the primer. Assuming of course the pistol in question has its striker block in proper working order. Im more inclined to believe its a case failure. Not uncommon in .40 SW caliber. Attached are a couple of pictures of some .40SW brass from a pistol I owned a few years ago that initially looked like it was firing out of battery. They look very similar to the OP's picture of the case. Fortunately for me it was an all steel framed pistol and suffered no damage (it did blow the base pads off the magazine and dumped the remaining rounds at my feet). The fired cases would fit partly into the chamber but not nearly far enough in to allow the firing pin to hit the primer. All of the bulging at the base happens after the slide starts backwards as it cycles after the shot is fired. These photos also show a winchester case cut in half next to the offending FC case, and clearly shows the very thin web that was the issue then. Never used another FC case and have not had another case failure scince. Of course to much gunpowder or bullet setback would have the same effect as bad cases. Bottom line is you can never be too careful when it comes to reloading. Especially with the prevalence of plastic framed pistols, as they seem more prone to damage when a case goes kaboom. Thankfully the OP was not injured.

Im 52 and wear reading glasses. I struggled with this for some time before the lightbulb came on. It wasn't the front sight that needed replacement, it was my shooting glasses. I got some made with a very mild reading prescription and it is just enough to make the front sight nice and clear. The really cool thing about it is that the targets are just slightly out of focus all the time, but not so bad as to not identify them correctly or effect my sight picture in any way while running a stage. Scince the front sight is farther away than your typical reading distance you don't need near the same power for the lens correction. Hope this helps someone.

My M2 has thousands of rounds thru it and has not broken a single part. My sons M3000 has several hundred rounds thru it and the vent rib is separating from the barrel. Its going to have to go back for repair or replacement. You get what you pay for.